This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to the present embodiments that are described below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light.
Many home entertainment devices not only include the capability to receive and/or process available media content but also include the ability to communicate with other devices in a home network. These devices often include, but are not limited to, set-top boxes, gateways, televisions, home computers, media content players, and the like. Further, many of these devices may include multiple interfaces for different types of home networks as well as inter-device communication and signaling. These devices may also include additional features internal to the device, such as storage elements, hard drives, compact disk (CD), or digital versatile disk (DVD) drives, and the like.
One approach to configuring a home media distribution network involves using a central gateway device connected to thin client set top boxes located throughout a home or dwelling. The thin client set top boxes typically connect to the central gateway using a wired or wireless interface, such as the Multimedia over Cable Alliance (MoCA) standard. The thin client set top box interfaces to a home display device, such as a television or monitor, through an audio/video interface, such as the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or similar analog or digital signal interface. The thin client set top box may also include an audio/video input interface (e.g., HDMI) for connecting a home media content player (e.g., hard drive device, CD player, video cassette recorder (VCR), or DVD player). The thin client device may provide a signal, received from either the central gateway device or from the home media content player, for display on the display device.
Power consumption management remains an important issue with home entertainment devices, particularly as more devices are used and available in the home. Many home entertainment devices include a full function operating mode as well as a standby mode when plugged into electrical power. In many cases, the standby mode does not completely power down the device so that the device may continue to have some functional capability. However, in some cases, the standby operating mode may not operate at a power consumption low enough to meet requirements or energy standards, such as Energy Star. Further, the standby operating mode may either not power on or alternatively not power off the proper elements in the device in order to maintain certain specific functional operation, such as operation involving other external devices connected to the home entertainment device.
In particular, a thin client set top box may have a standby mode that at a very low power consumption level with only power applied for user control. However, a thin client set top box may also serve as an interface between a home media content player and a display device. The thin client set top box could include always powering the audio/video interface circuits as part of the standby mode but this would raise the power consumption level, especially when the interface is not in use. Further, turning the thin client set top box on for full operation involves even higher power consumption and may additionally be inconvenient to the user. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate an additional operational control mode in a device, such as a thin client set top box, for connecting, or passing, the audio/video signals through the device from a content source to a display device without fully powering on the device.